NetflixAll good things must come to an end, including Fuller House.
Despite the start of fan campaigns, Netflix's Full House sequel series will wrap up in the fall of 2019 with its fifth and final season. The announcement was made via a compilation video featuring clips from the series and the cast promising they've saved the best for last. But why?
A source close to the show said everyone is thrilled to come back for the fifth and final season, mainly because they were close to being canceled altogether. For Netflix and the pacing of the show, five seasons is a perfect run, the source said.
In a comment on her Instagram, Candace Cameron Bure elaborated on her feelings, saying it's bittersweet, but they're happy to get a chance to give viewers a proper ending.
When Fuller House debuted, it was a hit right out the gate. Netflix doesn't release proper viewership numbers, but according to data from Symphony Advanced Media, Fuller House episodes averaged 14.4 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic in its first month or so on Netflix. Rumors about the fourth season being the last swirled ahead of its debut. Series star Cameron Bure was quick to shoot them down in an interview with E! News. She later expressed desire to continue doing the show for years to come.
"Oh my goodness, I would play DJ Tanner for the rest of my life," Cameron Bure told us before the fifth and final season was announced. "If the audience wanted it and the networks wanted it, I would do it forever. I love her. I love our Fuller House family, and we really are family off screen. The more I get to be with them every day, whether it's working or just in everyday life friendship. It's just incredible, so keep watching! Give us a season five!"
Find out why so many of your favorite shows are ending below.
End date: 2019-2020 season
Why: Ratings have slipped—as has buzz—and ABC announced the sixth season would be its last. Plus, how long did you expect them to hold Viola Davis? She picked up an Emmy nomination for her work in the fifth season (she previously won the award).
End date: 2019-2020 season
Why: It's been 15 years! In an emotional video, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles said they informed the crew that 15th would be the last. It seems like ending was their call. "We've cried some tears and we'll cry some more," Padalecki said.
End date: 2019-2020 season
Why: Series co-creators (and father and son) Eugene and Dan Levy penned a note to fans explaining they've reached a natural conclusion with the show they planned on from the beginning.
End date: 2019-2020 season
Why: It's time. Many thought the series would be ending during its current 10th season, but after a reinvigorating writing process that included many twists in the beloved characters' lives, ABC renewed the show for an 11th and final season.
End date: 2019
Why: FX said the series, which stars Dan Stevens and is based on an X-Men comic character, was always intended to be a three-season show.
End date: Fall 2019
Why: There were rumors about the fourth season being the last, but Netflix announced plans for a fifth season...and its last. Netflix didn't give an official reason, and it's clear it's not because of the cast wanting to move on.
End date: 2019-2020 season
Why: No official reason was given, but the aging series has a spinoff in the wings—Gina Torres will star in Pearson for the network.
End date: 2019-2020 season
Why: It was time. After 14 seasons the CBS series, which is produced by ABC Studios, has been on the cancellation bubble before (ratings decline and the complicated producing deals), but fans will get a proper end. "It's really bittersweet, but I'm so, so grateful to CBS for giving us this heads-up," Erica Messer, executive producer, told TVLine. "I think one of my biggest fears was always, ‘Oh man, what if we don't know' and then they just don't bring back the show? But they respect this series and the cast and the crew and the fans enough to end this properly."
End date: 2019
Why: Creator Sam Esmail was ready to end the acclaimed series that put Rami Malek on the map. "When I first created the world of Mr. Robot, I thought it would be a niche television series with a small, cult following. Over the past three years, it has become so much more, and I am continually humbled by the show's recognition and by the amazing cast and crew that work tirelessly to help bring my vision to life," Esmail said in a statement. "Since day one, I've been building toward one conclusion — and in breaking the next season of Mr. Robot, I have decided that conclusion is finally here. Everyone on the creative team, including the amazing people at USA and UCP, didn't want to say goodbye, but we ultimately have too much respect for Elliot's journey to extend past its inevitable ending. Therefore, season four will serve as the final chapter of the Mr. Robot story. To fans of the show: thank you for the past three years, and I can't wait to share this exciting final season with you."
End date: 2019
Why: It all came down to money. "We are very proud of Shadowhunters, a series that broke new ground in the genre world and became a fan favorite," Freeform said in a statement. "However, along with our partners at Constantin, we reached the very difficult decision not to renew the show for a fourth season. But as big supporters and fans ourselves, Freeform insisted on and championed the filming of a special two-part finale that would give devoted fans a proper ending. The 12 episodes will air in spring 2019. We want to thank our talented creators, producers, cast and crew along with our colleagues at Constantin for their hard work and dedication and to Cassie Clare for her incredible book series. We look forward to the final chapter of this breakthrough drama."
End date: 2019
Why: It's just time for the Sherlock Holmes drama to end. The show, which stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu, was a big hit for CBS, especially internationally. "[Series creator Rob Doherty] set out to tell a story, and it feels like he has accomplished what he had set out to do. The actors, the crew and the staff feel that way, and we feel that. So are grateful and celebrating what we had and looking forward to the future," executive producer Carl Beverly said.
End date: 2020
Why: No real reason was given, but the upcoming sixth season will be the show's last. However, the Vikings saga may not be over. History and series creator Michael Hirst are in talks for a follow-up series.
End date: Final season begins January 24, 2019
Why: Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer were ready. The duo detailed their experience writing season four after the 2016 election and their need to grow with The New York Times.
End date: 2019
Why: The relationship drama, originally starring Maura Tierney, Dominic West, Ruth Wilson and Joshua Jackson, dipped a bit in popularity in recent years, but according to Showtime it was always planned to be five seasons. Anna Paquin joins the cast for the final season that jumps around in time. "We love the intimacy, the nuance and the emotional honesty of The Affair's subjective examination of both infidelity and fidelity," Gary Levine, president of programming at Showtime, said in a statement. "Sarah Treem has always envisioned this as a five-season series, and we will be fascinated to see where she takes her talented cast and all of us next year in its climactic season."
End date: 2019
Why: Look, Claire Danes' Carrie Mathison has been through A LOT. Danes previously hinted that the eighth season would be the show's last and Showtime made it official at the 2018 Television Critics Association press tour.
"Homeland has been the most joyful and rewarding experience of my career. Not many have been as lucky as me — partnered with the miraculous Claire Danes, supported to the ends of the earth by Fox and Showtime, and working in the company of some of the most gifted writers, actors, and filmmakers in the business. I am sad to see the journey coming to an end, but it is time," executive producer Alex Gansa said in a statement.
End date: 2019?
Why: After the dismissal of series star Jeffrey Tambor, the show's fate was up in the air. However, the show will go on...TBD when you'll see it. "Hopefully it sets the Pfeffermans up with some sort of beautiful reclaiming," series creator Jill Soloway said about the final season. "I think we're going to get there with some time."
End date: 2019
Why: Low ratings plagued the Batman prequel series, but thanks to fan support, the series got a final batch of episodes to say goodbye—and for young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) to transform into the caped crusader.
End date: 2019
Why: According to FX, the decision to wrap up the series about Gretchen (Aya Cash), Jimmy (Chris Geere), Lindsay (Kether Donohue) and Edgar (Desmin Borges) was mutual. "Making You're The Worst has been an incredible experience and FX Networks have been dream partners," creator Stephen Falk said in a statement when the ending was announced. "I am thankful to have the opportunity to be thoroughly judged whether or not we ‘stick the landing'—which is a thing people say now that stupid Breaking Bad had to end so damn perfectly."
End date: 2019
Why: Co-creators and executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff said they always intended Game of Thrones to be a finite series. "We're trying to tell one cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end. As Dan said, we've known the end for quite some time and we're hurtling towards it…The thing that has excited us from the beginning, back to the way we pitched it to HBO is, it's not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every season it's trying to figure out new story lines. We wanted it to be one giant story, without padding it out to add an extra 10 hours, or because people are still watching it. We wanted to something where, if people watched it end to end, it would make sense as one continuous story. We're definitely heading into the end game now," Benioff told Deadline at the end of season six.
End date: 2019
Why: Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) hasn't been the vice president for some time, it seemed like the series had run its course. "It became clear that this season should be the last season," Louis-Dreyfus told THR about the decision to end with the upcoming seventh season. "We don't want to repeat ourselves or wear out our welcome. The story has a finality to it that feels end-of-series." "It was just a very natural thing," executive producer David Mandel said. "We don't want to repeat ourselves or be boring. It's bittersweet but it's right."
Plus, how many more Emmys does she have space for in her house?
End date: 2019
Why: The CW series has pretty much been a bubble show year after year, but a vocal fanbase and steady viewership kept it around for one last hurrah. "I have to admit, I have never been in this position before. It's kind of nice to know," series creator Rob Thomas told E! News about actually knowing a season of one of his shows would be the last.
End date: 2019
Why: Series creators Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna have maintained the show was always going to be four seasons, and they plotted out the arc that way when they began work on the show.
"It's four at most. It's a series that lives in being finite," Bloom told E! News ahead of season two. "It's because Aline is a screenwriter. She was like, 'I just want to map out the whole series.' We spent months just marinating the characters and really mapping it out. Our ratings aren't amazing, so I don't think CW would be like, 'Please give us 10 seasons!' It works to our advantage in that sense."
End date: 2019
Why: Executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman said she thought the Gina Rodriguez-fronted show had four seasons of story to tell, but that plan changed during season two.
"…I thought, ‘We have enough to take us through five seasons.' We started to have those discussions in season three. The studio and the network were always really supportive. Mark Pedowitz told me early on, ‘Tell me when it ends. Just give me enough notice.' I was really grateful to have that, because you don't often have that leeway and confidence, and the foresight to be able to plan your ending. Gina and I are creative partners, and we talk about everything, and we were on the same page," Snyder Urman told The New York Times. "It's the ending I pitched when I pitched the show. I couldn't have pitched them a million of the details that have happened along the way, and it doesn't have to do so much with the plot and with all the twists and turns. But the overall structure and what I wanted to say about certain things — structurally, that's built into the ending."
End date: January 25
Why: Netflix split the final fourth season into two, releasing six episodes first with the second half of season, seven episode, being the for Kimmy, Titus, Lillian and Jacqueline…unless the rumored movie comes together for Netflix. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-creator Robert Carlock said the team originally envisioned a five-season run and saw the split season four as shortened fourth and fifth seasons. "We were never quite sure what the life of the show wanted to be," he said. "When we split up this fourth season into kind of a fourth and a fifth — just in the boring, most practical way, you could think of them as two short seasons — one wouldn't be coming out until 2019, so it just felt like the right time to pull up stakes since we were kind of pushing ourselves into next year."
End date: Summer 2019
Why: Netflix renewed Orange Is the New Black for seasons five, six and seven back in 2016. Many assumed the seventh season would be the last, but the streaming platform didn't confirm until October 2018. Series creator Jenji Kohan hasn't explicitly said why she wanted to end the show after seven seasons, the story does seem to be heading to a natural end. Piper (Taylor Schilling) was originally only sentenced to roughly a year in prison and season six ended with her finally getting released. "After seven seasons, it's time to be released from prison. I will miss all the badass ladies of Litchfield and the incredible crew we've worked with," Kohan said in a statement. "My heart is orange but fade to black."
End date: May 2019
Why: Isn't 12 seasons enough? No? CBS boss Kelly Kahl said the network was in talks with producer Warner Bros. TV about Big Bang season 13, but that all changed. Why? Series star Jim Parsons was ready to move on and the show wouldn't continue without him. "It's both as complex and as simple as just feeling innately that it was time. It speaks to a lot of things, none of them bad. There is no negative reason to stop doing Big Bang. It felt like we have been able to do this for so many years now, it doesn't feel like there is anything left on the table," Parsons told EW. "Not that we couldn't keep doing it, but it feels like we've chewed all the meat off this bone. I guess at a personal level, it feels like the right time in my life."
However, Parsons is still an executive producer and narrator of Young Sheldon, so he's not going very far.
Fuller House will return for one final season in the fall of 2019.